The Prince and the Dualhorn
by wolfhunter777
Summary: The Astrals are jerks, Noctis firmly believes in that. (Time loop)
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Final Fantasy.

The Astrals are jerks, that's what Noctis, the prince of Lucis, believes anyway. There was no other explanation to it. After all, only the Astrals have the power to rewind time over and over while giving him the ability to keep his memories.

He just wish that the Astrals weren't such jerks that they placed the start of the time loop exactly a minute before he gets trampled to death by a rampaging dualhorn.

Those thoughts were summarized sufficiently when he was trampled to death by the dualhorn.

Yup, the Astrals are definitely jerks. Did he mention that already? Because it deserves to be mentioned again. The Astrals are jerks.

Now, to get an understanding of how it all began, we will need to rewind ourselves back to when Noctis and his crownsguards received a request to take down a dualhorn that had been ravaging in the area.

The boys found the beast easily enough. Ignis gave them a plan, Prompto would give them ranged cover, Gladiolus would stand at the front lines and Noctis would attack from behind. Taking down that beast would be a piece of cake.

What went wrong however was that the beast immediately started charging towards Noctis without warning before everyone could get into position. Caught off guard, Noctis was unceremoniously trampled to death under the heavy hooves of the dualhorn while his friends cried out his name in horror.

The end...or it should have been until Noctis blinked and found himself alive. He was happy for but a mere minute before he got trampled to death by the dualhorn again, and again, and again.

You get the picture.

After several resets, Noctis had realized what was happening and could only curse his luck before he got trampled to death again.

On the next reset, he cursed the six before he got trampled to death again.

Now back to where we were, the Astrals were jerks. Noctis firmly believes in it as he gets trampled to death again. It was obvious that the Astrals really didn't want him to die. They probably need him for some super secret divine plan to save the world but obviously, not care enough to rewind time slightly further back so he could be better prepared to fight the dualhorn or make him invincible instead of rewinding time.

Well, that's fine. If the Astrals want to play it that way then he will play by their rules.

On the next attempt, Noctis immediately dived to the right as the dualhorn charged towards him. It turned its head to the right and gored Noctis to death with its horns.

On the next attempt, Noctis immediately dived to the left as the dualhorn charged towards him. It turned its head to the left and gored Noctis to death with its horns.

A few more attempts later, Noctis remembered he could warp.

On the next attempt, Noctis warped to the top of a rusted tower. Hanging from his blade, he watched the dualhorn skid to a stop as his friends rolled away from the beast. The beast charged towards the structure that Noctis was hanging from as his friends got up.

Foreseeing his impending doom, he tried to free his blade, only to realize that his sword was stuck.

The structure broke upon the beast's impact, sending Noctis back down to the ground, landing on top of the pile of metal. There was screaming, pain, metal going through his body underneath him, lots of cursing and that damn dualhorn trampled him to death again.

Beats bleeding to death from the rusted metal he suppose.

On the next attempt, Noctis warped to the side of the cliff. The dualhorn turned while still maintaining its charge and rammed into the rocky wall. The cracks around the blade in the rock expanded and the cliff wall collapsed on top of Noctis as he fell to the ground. There was screaming, pain, broken bones, lots of cursing and that damn dualhorn trampled him to death again.

He spent the next few attempts cursing the Astrals loudly as he got trampled to death by the dualhorn.

He spent the next attempt apologizing and pleading to the Astrals before he got trampled to death by the dualhorn.

It was only after that attempt that he told himself that the gods can go screw themselves.

And thus, fueled by anger and frustration, he hurled his sword into the beast's face, warping to the blade and bringing it down onto the dualhorn. There was a loud satisfying crack as the right horn broke. And the last thing Noctis saw was the broken horn flying into his face.

He spent the next attempt screaming in rage.

After Noctis has sufficiently calmed down in the next attempt, he began to formulate a plan. Only to realize that he can't because one, Ignis is the one who comes up with plans. And two, he can't come up with a plan in a minute before he gets trampled to death.

Oh, and gets trampled to death in that attempt too.

He decided that if he wants to win, he has to make use of every resource available.

On the next attempt, he threw a fire flask that he had made earlier before the accursed time loop. Satisfactorily, the dualhorn caught on fire and burned easily. Unsatisfactorily, the flaming dualhorn trampled him to death and he also caught on fire.

Maybe not every resource available, Noctis decided.

On the next attempt, Noctis warped behind Gladio as the latter rolled away from the dualhorn. The dualhorn skid to a stop and glared at Noctis. Gladio raised an eyebrow when Noctis flipped the beast off while hiding behind him.

The dualhorn snorted and charged towards the both of them. Gladio took the hit with his broadsword, pushing against the dualhorn. Noctis readied his blade to warp behind the beast when the beast forced his Shield to the side and continued to charge towards Noctis. He was unceremoniously trampled to death.

On the next attempt, Noctis warped behind Prompto as the latter rolled away from the dualhorn. The dualhorn skid to a stop and immediately charged towards the both of them. Prompto gave a high pitched scream that shattered Ignis's glasses before both of them got trampled to death by the dualhorn.

Noctis felt really bad for Prompto in that attempt but the scene of Ignis glasses shattering was hilarious so he spent the next attempt laughing before he got trampled to death.

Okay, maybe no more laughing, Ignis was looking at him weirdly in that round.

And no sacrificing his friends. Time loop or not, sacrificing people should not be a key to victory. But hiding behind Gladio does increase his rate of survival…

On the next attempt, Noctis warped behind Gladio as the latter rolled away from the dualhorn. Noctis shouted for Gladio to use a shield instead of a broadsword just as the dualhorn began to charge towards them. Gladio swapped to a shield, taking the hit from the dualhorn, sliding a bit from the impact. Just as Noctis prepared to warp behind the dualhorn, the beast clambered over Gladio, using the shield as a stepping stone and tripped, falling over. Noctis had just enough time to facepalmed before he was crushed to death by the dualhorn.

Noctis was getting frustrated again. If only there was a way to summon multiple weapons and just shred that thing into pieces...oh right, the Armiger…Noctis facepalmed again before he got trampled to death.

On the next attempt, he released his Armiger. His weapons crystallized and circled around him. The power chiming in his ears. He threw his weapons at the beast, warping to it as the weapons struck home. The beast cried out in pain as its horns shattered from the impact. Noctis only has time to smirk from breaking the horns and frowning when he sees one of the horns flying straight into his face.

Astrals damn it...

He spent the next attempt cursing his luck before he was trampled to death by the dualhorn.

On the next attempt, he grabbed a small rock angrily and hurled it towards the charging dualhorn while screaming obscenities at it. The rock struck the beast in the eye, causing it to lose control of its attack.

It diverted its charge into the cliff wall after it was blinded, missing Noctis by a few centimeters. The others had rolled away from it, putting them a safe distance away from the beast.

The impact from the attack caused the rocky wall to shudder before the rocks loosen and fell on top of the dualhorn. The largest boulder dislodged from the top as the rocks below fell. There was a loud crack as the boulder met the skull of the beast and then there was silence.

The rampaging dualhorn is dead and all Noctis could do was to stare at it dumbfounded.

"Dude…" Prompto gasped disbelievingly.

 _All that effort…_

"That was quite a turn of luck there," Ignis said as he adjusted his glasses.

Noctis's eye twitched. _All that effort…_

"Got real lucky there," Gladio smirked.

Noctis's eye continued to twitch. _All that effort…_

"Maybe the gods are looking out for him," Prompto laughed. "Think they'll help out again if we ask them nicely?"

Noctis didn't know if he should laugh or cry hysterically. As such, he took the most logical option. He did both.


	2. Chapter 2

When I first wrote this fanfic, I had intended it to be a one-shot. But then I got requests for more unfortunate time-loops and well, I began to think about it. So yes, here it is. Sorry it took so long, ideas have a very long cooldown period.

* * *

 **Disclaimer:** I do not own Final Fantasy.

The Astrals are jerks. Noctis is 99% sure that they are trolling him and 1% sure that they are really really bad gamers if life was a video game. In summary, they are all jerks, all of them.

It all started back when Noctis found out that he couldn't die, in the sense that every time he died, time would rewind up to the point just a few minutes before he had died, only for him to die again because the Astrals enjoying tormenting him this way.

Damn, Ignis is right, he is getting cynical.

Moving on, he had told his friends after the disastrous battle against the dualhorn where he had found out about his accursed gift. His friends took it well enough. And by well enough, he meant they didn't believe him until he had attempted to introduce his face to the pointed end of his sword.

Jerks, the whole lot of them.

Where was he again? Ah yes, he was contemplating about life choices as he was trampled to death by two dualhorns. At least this time, he could blame the Astrals, Prompto and Gladio.

To know how our dearest prince got himself into said situation, let us go back to a few hours prior to the unfortunate time loop.

The boys were taking a break at Hammerhead. The past few months had been tough on them, between getting the king's arms, receiving the blessings of the Astrals, and avoiding the imperials who are hell-bent on capturing the last prince of Lucis, there was hardly any time to kick back and relax.

Of course, their break had come to an end when they were informed that there was a pair of dualhorns blocking the road leading out of Hammerhead.

"No," Noctis said, glaring at Prompto who had suggested that they take out the dualhorns blocking the road.

"No?"

"No."

"Aw come on, why not?"

"You know why!"

"But it's just dualhorns!"

"It's precisely because they're dualhorns!"

"What's wrong with dualhorns, Noct? You've already fought and won against a marlboro-"

"Bad Breath is flammable."

"-the mighty behemoth-"

"It ate me three times."

"-the giant adamantoise-"

"It sneezed and blew me off into a rock spike."

"-the Archaean-"

"He stomped on me so many times that I lost count, punched me into a cliff and backhanded me into a wall twice."

"-and the Fulgurian is on our side-"

Noctis snorted.

"And you're not dead!"

Noctis couldn't help it, he laughed. At least Prompto was nice enough to wait until he was done laughing bitterly. Gladio on the other hand, needs to learn some manners.

"What's so funny?" came the deep voice of the man as he approached the two from behind.

"Noct doesn't want to fight the dualhorns to clear the road."

"Why not?"

"It's _dualhorns_ ," Noctis spat out, emphasising the word 'dualhorns'.

"It's just dualhorns."

"You shouldn't force his highness," Ignis said coming up towards them from behind Gladio.

Ah, praise be to Ignis, the only one who understands him.

In the end, the boys had bickered until Noctis gave in and decided to at least accompany them to assess the situation.

Of course, life is never that simple. Not when the Astrals are enjoying being the absolute jerks that they are.

When the boys exited the Regalia, they had spotted a lone dualhorn lying on the road, basking under the afternoon sun. Then there was a roar and Noctis dived to the left immediately, dodging a second dualhorn that almost trampled him to death from behind.

Noctis rolled to a stop on the ground a distance away. He got up and onto one knee before he looked up from the ground, only to see two dualhorns rushing towards him before he was trampled to death by the dualhorns.

When Noctis blinked and found himself staring at two dualhorns rushing towards him, he sighed in resignation before he was trampled to death by the dualhorns.

At least the Astrals were nice enough to give him a minute and five seconds before he was trampled to death.

On the next attempt, Noctis immediately pulled out a filled magic flask and hurled it at the dualhorns. He cursed to himself when he saw the tell-tale orange glow of the fire flask before it hit the enemy. The flask exploded and sent a large burst of flames all around.

Stupid fire and his stupid flammable body.

On the next attempt, Noctis pulled out a filled magic flask and looked down at it to examine it. The blue glow of the ice flask reflected in his eyes before he was trampled to death by the dualhorns.

On the next attempt, Noctis pulled out a filled magic flask and hurled it at the dualhorns. There was a blast of frigid air, causing Noctis to fall backwards. Ice exploded from the epicenter and when Noctis opened his eyes, he was face to face with a dualhorn just a few centimeters from his face. The other dualhorn was also nearby. Both dualhorns' lower bodies were encased in ice, preventing their movements.

Noctis sighed in relief that he was not dead yet and tried to get up, only to find that he couldn't. He looked down to figure why only to find lower body and hands encased in ice.

Noctis looked at his friends in order to ask them to help free him only to see Gladio's hands frozen to his greatsword and said greatsword was frozen to the floor, one of Ignis hands is frozen to the car and both of his feet were frozen to the floor, Prompto's body was frozen to the ground in a pose of what looks to be a mid-dodge. All three were glaring at Noctis, unamused.

Noctis couldn't help himself, he laughed.

The dualhorn nearest to Noctis began struggling to free itself, managing to pull out one of its frontal legs free from the ice. And Noctis could only watch as the leg swinged down on top of him.

Stupid ice and their stupid freeze properties.

On the next attempt, Noctis pulled out a filled magic flask and hurled it at the dualhorns. There was a loud explosion and bolts of electricity shot out, covering the surrounding area around the epicenter. Noctis was hit by a stray bolt. Noctis felt like his whole body was being burned alive internally while his muscles locked up, preventing him from screaming in pain. The darkness came soon after and when he blinked, he found himself staring at two dualhorns charging towards him. He was trampled to death by the dualhorns.

On the next attempt, Noctis wondered if he was cursed against using magic on dualhorns before he was trampled to death by the dualhorns.

On the next attempt, he threw his sword to the sky and warped to the blade, allowing the dualhorns to charge past beneath him. He then threw his sword to the dusty ground below and warped to his blade. The dualhorns had stopped their initial charge and was readying their next charge. Noctis pulled his blade out, slightly relieved that it wasn't stuck to the ground (again) before he took a step forward to meet the dualhorns head on, only for him to trip on a pothole in the road and plant his face onto the ground. He was trampled to death by the dualhorns.

On the next attempt, Noctis hurled profanities at the ill-maintained road before he was trampled to death by the dualhorns.

On the next attempt, Noctis threw his blade into the sky and warped to it to avoid the dualhorns. He then threw his sword to the ground and warped there as the dualhorns skid to a stop. The dualhorns bellowed furiously as they charged towards Noctis again.

Noctis hurled his blade at one of the dualhorns, breaking one of its horn as he did a warp-strike. He flipped in the air elegantly to avoid the broken horn that was flying towards him. Noctis smirked. So far, everything has been going smoothly.

Of course, that means that everything has to go wrong now.

"Fire in the hole!" Prompto's loud voice reached Noctis ears as he warped above the dualhorns.

 _Wait, what?_

Noctis turned his head to look at Prompto, his eyes catching sight of a orange magic flask flying in an arc through the air. The flask made contact with one of the dualhorns and flames exploded from the epicenter, engulfing the dualhorns and Noctis with fire.

Stupid fire magic. Noctis is never making fire flasks ever again.

On the next attempt, he spent the entire one minute and five seconds lecturing his friends on magic safety before he was trampled to death by the dualhorns.

However, one minute and five seconds was not enough for a proper lecture (according to Ignis). Thus, he spent several attempts lecturing them on magic safety.

On the next attempt, the Astrals have finally took pity on Noctis (or they got bored with his lecture) and have decided to lend him their aid. Noctis felt the air thicken with magic and the whispers of voices echoed in his mind, ordering him to release their power, to accept their aid. The world was tinged purple and Noctis accepted the power.

The sky turned grey ominously and purple lightning started flying out from the clouds, followed by the roar of thunder. The dualhorns stopped in their tracks, frozen in fear. The dark grey clouds parted and Ramuh descended from the sky. He lowered his hand to grab Noctis and readied his staff. As Ramuh lifted Noctis up and close to him, he channeled his magic and lightning gathered into his staff. And the last thing Noctis saw was a stray bolt of lightning flying towards him.

On the next attempt, Noctis cursed the Fulgurian before he was trampled to death by the dualhorns.

On the next attempt, the Astrals seemed to want to take responsibility for the mishap with Ramuh as they tried to order Noctis to summon again. However, Noctis was not one to fall for the same trick twice and as such, chose not to listen to the voices and summon. Unfortunately, the loud whispers that were seemingly turning into shouting by the second were very distracting. After screaming at the six to shut up, Noctis was trampled to death by the dualhorns.

On the next attempt, the Astrals were very determined that Noctis accept his aid and thus, began with shouting at him to take their aid with increasing volume. Noctis, tired of the Astrals annoying him with their voices, getting trampled to death because of said voices and also that migraine that followed him from the last attempt caused by said voices, Noctis accepted the power.

Titan came barreling through from the mountains, his footsteps causing the earth to shake with each step. The dualhorns fell to the ground, having lost their balance from the earthquakes. A strong magic barrier was erected around Noctis and his friends to protect them from Titian's wrath. Titan stopped in his tracks to pull out a large piece of the land and threw it at the dualhorns. It flew and crashed into the dualhorns with pinpoint accuracy, causing large clouds of dust to erupt, engulfing Noctis and his friends.

When the dust clouds settled, the road was completely demolished and pieces of debris were everywhere. There were various parts of the dualhorns scattered upon the torn ground.

Satisfied with the results, Titan turned to leave, fading away as he returned to where he came from. The barrier around Noctis and his friends fell as Titan left. Noctis smirked at the sight of the dead dualhorns and took a step forward, only to trip on a small piece of debris. The last thing he saw was a large rock on the ground getting closer to his face.

When Noctis blinked, he found himself staring at two dualhorns charging towards him before he was trampled to death.

On the next attempt, Noctis screamed in rage before he was trampled to death by the dualhorns.

On the next attempt, Noctis, powered by anger and rage, summoned his Armiger. His crystallized weapons circled around him as he warped towards the dualhorns. There was a loud crack as the horn broke on one of the dualhorns and Noctis warped out before the horn could hit him. He warped to the other dualhorn, breaking both horns at the same time when the warp-strike connected. The dualhorn bellowed in pain as Noctis warped out into the sky.

"Fire in the hole!"

 _Wait, what? Again!?_

Noctis turned to face Prompto, only to see the orange glow of the fire flask heading towards the dualhorns. The fire flask exploded when it made contact with the dualhorns, engulfing them and Noctis with fire.

Noctis swore to himself to ban Prompto from magic flasks.

On the next attempt, Noctis grabbed a rock on the ground and threw it at the dualhorns while screaming about how the six should make him immune to fire. The rock bounced off the horn of one of the dualhorns and hit the other in the eye. The dualhorn screamed in pain when it was blinded in one eye and collided with the other dualhorn.

Noctis, who is still enraged, began hurling rocks on the road at the dualhorns. Another rock made contact with the dualhorn's injured eye, making it turn its head to protect the wound from the stoning. This then caused that dualhorn to accidentally ram its horns into the other dualhorn, causing it to bleed. The other dualhorn roared in pain and glared at the partially blind dualhorn. It then ram the dualhorn with its horns. The end result was both dualhorns attempting to kill each other while Noctis watched dumbfounded.

His friends gathered behind him to watch as well, making comments about how he was lucky with that throw and how he should bring rocks to fight against dualhorns. Noctis did not answer to that. Instead, he walked towards the car. He pulled out a can of beer from Gladio's stash in the trunk and took a big gulp after opening the can.

After feeling the taste of the alcohol on the back of his throat, he began laugh and cry hysterically.


	3. Chapter 3

This is more of a bonus chapter.

* * *

 **Disclaimer:** I do not own Final Fantasy.

Insomnia, the once mighty city where the King of Lucis had resided in. Now, towering buildings lay broken and empty while the destroyed streets lay infested by daemons. After a long hibernation within the crystal to gain the powers of the Astrals (the same amount of time Noctis spent letting said Astrals know how much he disapproves of the time loops), Noctis is now ready to rid the world of eternal darkness and to claim his rightful place on the throne.

Thus, when Ignis suggested that they waste no time and to take a shortcut through a plaza to get to the palace, Noctis could only groan when he saw what vile beast was lingering there.

"Noct, why does it sound like there is a dualhorn in front of us?" Ignis asked quietly, looking disbelieved.

"About that..."

The dualhorn bellowed loudly, announcing its presence to the daemon-infested city, oblivious to the presence of Noctis and company (who were hiding behind some debris when they saw the dualhorn).

"Prompto?"

"What's up Noct?"

"Am I dreaming or is that really a dualhorn?"

"You know, I was just about to ask you the same thing."

"That is one big dualhorn," Gladio mumbled under his breath, slightly in awe at the sight of the creature.

The dualhorn continued pacing around the plaza, as if it was patrolling around its territory, and Noctis started coming up with a plan to get past the dualhorn without dying or being noticed by it.

There was a loud groan of metal, piercing through the silence and drawing the attention of every living being in the area. The dualhorn roared loudly and charged towards the red giant pulling itself out of the tendrils of corrupted darkness. Before the armored daemon could even pull out its sword, it was unceremoniously trampled to death.

"Dude, did you see that?" Prompto asked excitedly while still keeping his volume low. "It destroyed that daemon in less than a minute!"

Before Noctis could reply to Prompto, he noticed blue glowing balls coming out of several small pools of darkness. The balls enlarged and exploded outwards, sending tiny sparks of blue fire everywhere as it reformed into bombs. The daemons let loose a demonic crackle as they floated in the air. The dualhorn was already charging towards the bombs when they were forming and the floating daemons were unceremoniously trampled to death.

"What the hell?!" Gladio mumbled as the dualhorn roared in victory.

There was a loud shriek on the right and everyone turned to look at the source of the noise. Black tendrils crawled up from the ground and up the wall, sticking there as the dark blotch became larger. A skeletal hand came out from the black pool, along with a grotesque face. The daemon wall had barely enough time to shriek again to announce its presence before it was knocked down by the dualhorn along with the entire section of the wall and was unceremoniously trampled to death.

Noctis was too busy trying to wrap his mind around that sight to form words.

As the dualhorn was about to return to pacing around the plaza, there was a sound of a light tap. The dualhorn turned to face its latest challenger, a ronin coming down the cracked road. The dualhorn roared and charged towards the ronin while it readied its sword to attack the rampaging beast.

Noctis held his breath as the daemon samurai and beast were about to make contact.

The ronin tensed as the beast neared it, ready to strike as soon as the dualhorn reached its sword's range.

Without warning, the dualhorn leaped towards the ronin, pushing more force through its hind legs, shattering the concrete beneath it. The extra burst of speed caught the daemon off-guard and it was unceremoniously knocked down and trampled to death.

" _How_ is that dualhorn still alive?"

The flans were trampled to death before they could even form their gelatinous bodies.

Prompto gaped while Noctis swore under his breath.

Multiple laughters and rustling came from the alleyway on the left and a horde of goblins came pouring out from the darkness. The goblins leaped and clung onto the side of the dualhorn, attempting to bring down the beast with their sheer numbers. The dualhorn roared in anger before falling to its side and doing a barrel roll, crushing the daemons beneath its heavy body.

"That dualhorn killed more daemons in an hour than we do in a day!" Gladio grumbled.

A medium-sized pool of darkness formed and a skeleton floated upwards. The ragged cloth covering its skeletal body fluttered with the unnatural wind created as the dark energy swirled around it. A scythe formed in its hand and its eyes glowed red. The lich was trampled to death before it could even touch the ground with its feet.

"I'm taking the route through the underground subway," Noctis declared as he got up from where was squatting.

"What? But what if daemons appear and collapse the entire tunnel with us in it?!"

"You can either take the tunnels or you can try getting past that dualhorn," Noctis said, pointing to the creature.

The dualhorn stomped on a snaga, crushing its skull and killing it instantly.

"I love underground tunnels and subways! Love em! I always took the train when I get home from school!" Prompto answered hastily.

"What about you guys?" Noctis asked, looking at Gladio and Ignis.

The arachne let out a death scream before dissipating away after being gored by the dualhorn.

"I'm with Noct," Ignis replied as soon as the scream faded away.

"What about you Gladio?"

"It's one dualhorn, I think we can take it on."

Before Noctis was about to reason with him, he was interrupted by an ominous laughter.

"Is that a tonberry I hear?" Ignis asked, looking unsure.

"Over there!"

"...Why is that tonberry holding a lightsaber?"

"A what?" Ignis asked, looking confused.

"A lightsaber, a sword whose blade is replaced with a glowing one that is entirely made of energy. That tonberry is holding it….and it's dead."

"The dualhorn?"

The dualhorn roared loudly in victory.

"No, the tonberry."

The dualhorn returned to pacing around the plaza and after a moment of silence, Gladio finally spoke up.

"So where did you say the subway was again?"

Noctis smirked before leading everyone away from the dualhorn and back into the city.

And when you have jerks you call gods watching upon the world of Eos, something unfortunate was bound to happen to Noctis.

Not that the gods cared of course.

The dualhorn spotted the prince and immediately began charging towards him. Noctis was unceremoniously trampled to death.


End file.
